Patriots fall twice in Georgetown tournament

SCC Sports Information

The St. Catharine College Patriots dropped two games last weekend at the Jim Reid Classic played at Georgetown College. On Friday, J.T. Burton’s team lost a 73-59 decision to Aquinas College (Michigan) and Saturday they fell 81-63 to Edward Waters College (Florida). The two setbacks give the Patriots a 1-12 slate with one game remaining in the first semester schedule.

“We aren’t playing the kind of defense that wins games,” said Burton. “When you let a team shoot 50 percent and get so many offensive rebounds you won’t win many.”

Aquinas (3-5) shot 51 percent (29-57) in Friday’s win as they took a 38-27 lead at halftime. The Patriots could never get the lead under double figures after intermission as they struggled from the field with 38 percent shooting.

Arthur Latham and Brandon Johnson paced the Patriots with 29 and 12 points respectively. Mutomo Yombo led St. Catharine in rebounds with seven, but Aquinas won the boards 35-24.

In Saturday’s game the Patriots fell behind 49-34 at the half but rallied to cut the margin to six points midway through the final period. But Edward Waters (8-3) responded with two treys to push the lead back to 12 points and the Patriots never seriously challenged again.

“They are a very athletic team that just runs and guns,” said Burton. “We just couldn’t get the key stops we needed once we got back in the game.”

Edward Waters shot 46 percent from the field while the Patriots managed just 35 percent. St. Catharine was 11-12 from the foul line while the Tigers made 11 of 15 charity tosses.

Latham and Johnson, who both made the all-tournament team, again led the Patriots. Latham had 24 points and eight rebounds while Johnson scored 23 and also collected eight boards.

“We got a good effort from Peter (Jean Pierre Uwamahoro),” added Burton of the 7-0 freshman who had a season- high eight points and five rebounds.

The Patriots final game of this semester will be a home game on Friday, Dec. 19 when Alice Lloyd visits for a 7 p.m. tip.

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Georgetown College won the weekend tournament. They beat Edward Waters 86-70 and Aquinas 68-46.